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8th KPMC: Interview with Giedrius Tumelis (Lithuania)

Ranka: To start with, please tell us how you got here. Giedrius: By winning first place in the Lithuanian Go Championship in 2012, but it began with three other tournaments in three cities: Vilnius, Moletai, and Kaunas. Players hoping to take part in the championship must first collect points in those tournaments. Then the top eight proceed to the championship, which is a round robin, and from the round robin they receive points that are used to select the players for the World Amateur Go Championship and the Korea Prime Minister Cup. These points accumulate over a period of up to maybe five years. When you go to the WAGC or KPMC your points are reset to zero.

Ranka: And how often have you been reset so far? Giedrius: Twice. I played in the Korea Prime Minister Cup six years ago and in the World Amateur Go Championship three years ago in China. In both I finished around 30-somethingth.

Ranka: Please tell us more about go in Lithuania. Giedrius: There’s a small club in Kaunas, where I live. Usually about six players come each week. Vilnius is bigger; they have about twenty every week. In Moletai there is a go teacher who teaches mathematics in a school and runs a go club for children after classes. Perhaps he gets about twenty students per year. Moletai is a small town, so some of the players come to Vilnius or Kaunas to study and play at the clubs there.

Ranka: Since you’ve been to China and Korea, how would you compare them with Lithuania? Giedrius: I like Korea very much. They have very nice people. In both Korea Prime Minister Cups that I have attended the organization has been excellent. It’s always good to come to Korea–like a holiday. China also had a fine tournament, but the smog was a problem. It wasn’t healthy to walk around outside in Hangzhou. As for Lithuania, the air is good, and that’s where my friends and family are, but it’s really cold. Korea in October is like Lithuania in August. When I get home it will be about five degrees. I like nice weather, which we don’t have in Lithuania. Instead, we have lots of rain.

Ranka: How would you compare the food in these three countries? Giedrius: I didn’t like the food in China: it was too aristocratic. I guess they treated the tournament competitors to some very good meals, but they were too good for me. The one meal that I liked in China was a cheap meal, a poor man’s meal, that I had at a Chinese temple in Hangzhou. I went in and tried it and it was very good. Korean food is very good too. When I left Korea the last time I felt healthier, better than at home. Perhaps it’s the low salt content and low fat content of Korean food. In Lithuania fatty food is considered good.